How Societies Embrace Information Technology: Lessons for Management and the Rest of Us

By James W. Cortada

Book Overview

This book discusses how computers are shaping contemporary society, with a tight focus on the role of corporations and governments. It is aimed at government policymakers interested in economic... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470534982
• ISBN13: 9780470534984
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Computer Society PR
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

All fluff and misleading

The main hindering factor to computer advances (which are only tools) and computing is monolithic thinking, Governments and Managers that only know what they read in magazines a-d-v-e-r-t-i-s-e-m-e-n-t-s. It is the inventors and individuals who have to push companies and governments into the information age. Take IBM, for example, they talk about systems like “Big Blue” in articles, but the person on the ground is using a system that is two or more versions back and no longer has support from the manufacturer. The author fluffs off the individual on the internet as he thinks that managers can make decisions based on magazine articles and itinerant salesmen. To the credit of the author (James W. Cortada), as the title of the book implies, he does cover most of the variations on “information technology.” This includes intelligent systems such as toasters and automobiles. The book itself is not designed as a technical book, as even the author tells you. However, it is also not a book designed for a school class. It is more of a synopsis of what the author acquired and organized while producing such books. The book is well organized with an extensive table of contents and enough references to carry you forward for any further studies, and this is information that you may require. Part of the underlying theme is globalization. The author treats this as a natural outcome of information technology. The reality is that technology is the result of globalization. He points out Walmart as an importer. Walmart imports due to cheap labor. IBM tried this several times; as a result, when you call for help, you are lucky to get an English speaker. If you get an English speaker, then you are lucky to get someone technically savvy. When you get someone useful, that person soon gets paid the same thing as the person next door. We have now moved from an expensive India to a cheap Egypt. Where to go next is anyone’s guess. But it is not technology forcing the move. The value of this book, as in similar books of this type, is not to buy into the author’s point of view or the author’s conclusions, but instead, to take the relevant parts of this book and apply them to the individual situation. That is the true value of management.